No clue how anyone could possibly be surprised by this. Borges was, as I stated many, many times, The Worst Coordinator in Michigan History (TM). At his best he played opposing defensive coordinators to a draw. At his worst (say, whenever Pat Narduzzi was in the same zip code), watching him call games was like watching a slow pre-schooler play Bobby Fisher in chess.

He was a good human being, and I will always root for him since he devoted precious time in his life to try and help my favorite team, but I am very happy about this change. The key will be the hire of course. If Brady pulls a RichRod and brings in a GERG type, he'll be doomed. At least now Brady has a chance.

but now i wonder. It was the defense that let us down at OSU and the Buffalo chip bowl and i changed to a "meh" about firing Borges since there has been SOOO much blame to go around the last two months. But if we need to make a statement that overpaid mediocracy is not tolerated then i think we made the right choice. I hope we have a committed hire avalible, since i think the Hoke hire was in part because we fired RR thinking we had Harbaugh and we know how that worked out. Matison gets a bye because he had a couple of bad hair days but at least i felt his retention was justified. Overall i presume we cant do a lot worse than Borges. That is not a solid recommendation.

Much respect for the man and everything he's committed into our football program - make no mistake about it, every member of our staff has sunk their entire lives into this team over the past 3 years. Unfortunately, he just wasn't much of a coach. Very excited to see where we go from here!

Borges wasn't trying to fail, he wanted to win games, but results based charting exists.

Much respect for the man, and before the jubulation sets in just remember that this is a man who is now unemployed, his family and kids now has to move (if he's going to work again, he made a lot of $$) and these are real people. Sorry to be a downer, but it's always hard when coaches get fired.

That poor guy who make over 700k/yr will be unemployed because he didn't do his job. Give me a break. He will be fine and get another job. Where is our sympathy for watching his pathetic play calling the last few years?

while I would prefer to characterize him as the wrong coach rather than a bad coach, Borges is about the last person without a job that I feel sorry for---at $700K he's kinda in a better place than most of the unemployed.

I recall reading that Damien Harris was a big Borges fan. Now I'm not trying to cause a panic, but I just remember reading that he and Borges talked quite a bit about the future of the offense and Harris was excited.

Harris is an elite talent, however, I'd rather have Borges out than have Harris in. One more season of Borges could've changed his mind anyways. Harris is supposed to have grown up a michigan fan so hopefully he still goes blue. I doubt whoever Hoke brings in is going to have a major philosophy change.

When we fired him I personally wanted us to make him OC(if his ego agreed), and bring someone else in. We had/have the money to have paid him a HC salary at OC. Hell I want us to bring someone in, steal a dude from the NFL for 2 million. B1G, Michigan has the money and I think it's time for DB to write the check, unless he's just a dragon hoarding his stash.

What head coach in their right mind would take a demotion to offensive coordiator at the school that just fired him? Rich Rod didn't succeed at Michigan but he was still a head coach and was clearly going to be a head coach somewhere else. There was no chance in hell ever that he would have been the OC here and even suggesting it to him would have been the equivalent of spitting in his face. And I'm not even a Rich Rod fan.

I wonder if Brady made the decision, or Brandon did. I am very surprised by this move. I sincerely hope that the move was made solely for football performance on the field, and didn't have anything to do with slow psd renewals. I would hate to think Brandon's infuence is that pervasive.

I wonder if Brady made the decision, or Brandon did. I am very surprised by this move. I sincerely hope that the move was made solely for football performance on the field, and didn't have anything to do with slow psd renewals. I would hate to think Brandon's infuence is that pervasive.

about Borgess being fired. I retain the other 51% of excitement until I see who Michigan ends up hiring as the new OC. Hiring Scott L. would not raise my excitement level beyound a total of 50% for this overall decision. Hoke / Brandon need to hit an absolute home run with this hire. Since Funk and Wellman were "retained" for 2014, getting a second rate OC only gives Hoke / Brandon more time to "fix" our 7 year drought of mediocrity. Pick someone who is young, hungry and up and coming. We do not need a lifelong journey man OC again (ie Mazzone).

Although I don't know how to feel. On the one hand I feel bad for him since he seems like a really good dude. On the other I'm pretty happy Hoke is making a change, hopefully for the better. Do we go after someone big? Or maybe someone solid like Bill Cubit?

With that said, if Hoke/Brandon are only going to stuff a certain philosophy (must huddle, lack of hurry-up offense, no audible/adjustments to defense, etc.) down a different OC's throat, then it doesn't matter who is the OC. Hire a top-notch OC and let him do his job; let him innovate; let him adjust to defensive alignments. I am not saying Hoke/Brandon did this the last 3 years, but it can't happen if they want Michigan to compete for championships consistently and not get left behind.

Now I am really interested to see who the new OC will be. I would love someone like Mike Bloomgren to come in and be OC/OL, and then hire a dedicated QB coach. Not sure what happens to Fred Jackson. I would imagine they have someone or at least a few candidates before making this decision to let Borges go.

There is no evidence whatsoever that Brandon has any involvement in the Xs and Os of the team, and Hoke has not shown himself to be overbearing in that way either. In fact, Hoke seems to be just the opposite. He seems to delegate well and calls himself a defensive coach.

I don't think this happens unless there's someone expressing interest, or someone Michigan really thinks they can get. I know, I know, we all thought that after the 2 coaching changes so I could be completely wrong, but there has to be something behind the scenes, right? RIGHT?

"Decisions like these are never easy," said Hoke. "I have a great amount of respect for Al as a football coach and, more importantly, as a person. I appreciate everything he has done for Michigan Football for the past three seasons."

Such decisions never are, and I do respect all the time and effort the entire staff put into this team. In the case of Hoke, it cannot be easy to see someone who left a job and came across the country with you to Ann Arbor go under any circumstances. Like many here, I was not the biggest fan of Borges either, but I do respect the effort all the same and I respect Brady Hoke for standing by his staff throughout the season and waiting until a more opportune moment to make changes. I imagine Borges will land somewhere - best of luck to him.

this was probably one of the toughest decisions Coach Hoke has ever had to make or be a part of in his career. I am sure there was pressure from above (Rich Alums > Brandon > Hoke) to make a change but this will help Hoke grow as a coach and leader. All the best to Al and hope that that the Rich Alums are backing up their wishes with their pocketbooks so we can retain a well qualified OC. We will never know the full story but let the OC search begin. To all MGoBloggers, fire Up FlightTracker and start watching the comings and goings at the airports.

they will be coming out of the dead period for contacting recruits in a week if I remember correctly. One of the first priorities is 2015 quarterback. You want to have your coordinator on board with the quarterback.

Their also could have been some concern on feedback on the 2015 recruits. Two possiblities come to mind right away. It's better to sell those individuals and others that you are committed to winning.

I'm suprised just like everyone else. I know most people want a big name, but I'd rather have an effective (or is it affective...) OC even if he's an under the radar type. Just figure out how to consistently get us some positive rushing yards PLEASE!!

He knows he needs to make a change and that 2014 will be a critical season. Given that, he's making a change. Reinforces my faith in the man. Best thing for the team, the program, and probably for Brady's job security, too. May we find someone that can maximize the talents of Gardner and a strong stable of young players...and has effective blocking schemes.

He knows he needs to make a change and that 2014 will be a critical season. Given that, he's making a change. Reinforces my faith in the man. Best thing for the team, the program, and probably for Brady's job security, too. May we find someone that can maximize the talents of Gardner and a strong stable of young players...and has effective blocking schemes.

Wow. I, like I'm sure most of the people here, never saw this coming this year. Really liked the guy, but this is a great sign that Hoke is willing to make the tough choices to make his team better. I guess that assumes that it was Hoke's choice rather than Brandon foreshadowing it by leaving Borges out of his blog post a few months back, but I think that's too much tea leaf reading without more so I will assume it was Hoke.

This is, of course, only good if we get someone better, but I am hopeful for now.

I think Borges could have still worked out decently, and I gave what I thought were reasons why that was. But I always reserved judgement for those within the program that have much more evidence than any of us.

I had a feeling someone on the offense was going to fall on the sword. I didn't expect Borges would be let go, but I have faith that if the staff thought it was best for the program, then it was. Hopefully the next guy can right the ship and Michigan can be better on offense.

My excitement is also tempered with the fact that he's now unemployed, and likely has to move, circumstances that his family has to deal with. It's unfortunate, because I highly doubt he wanted to lose football games, and I have to think he sunk a lot of time into the team and university.

I really enjoyed the offense in quite a few games during the past three seasons, but there just wasn't enough "good" Borges for the price, I guess. I wonder who's the new OC. Hopefully, someone with an answer to the double A-gap blitz.

I'm sure as a human being he is a great man and I feel bad that Im excited that he no longer has a job. But, this is how the industry, he chose to work in, works. Wish nothing but the best for him in the future and hope that he learns from the mistakes that lead to what had to of been an extremley tough choice for Coach Hoke.

Talk on the west side of the state is that they want to keep our recruits happy, and may be looking at hiring Don Fellows as OC (Drake Harris' high school coach.) I wouldn't be suprised if there is some truth to this. With Malzahn's success, and also the fact the Fellows was the OC at a juco in California before.

He's another Michigan man who's done very well in his short tenure at LSU, the Michigan of the SEC. He's presumably content under Les Miles, and may be difficult to get him to do a lateral move to U-M.

I know that Borges is, by all accounts, a good guy, and that personal relationships mean a lot. But I can't imagine that a top RB recruit would be too pissed at missing the chance to play in an offense that featured another top RB recruit yet was one of the worst rushing teams in the country.

Borges had to go. Hoke needed to show that he simply wouldn't accept failure and also create some optimism for the future. Check and check. As far as who we should hire, I'm cool with Mazzone from UCLA or Applewhite from Texas if Charlie Strong doesn't retain him. Lane Kiffin seems like a bit of a reach but he'd up Michigan's profile even more and can recruit with the best of them. I'm not expecting a splashy hire, but I'd be happy with one.

I thought it was a formality once we rushed for negative yardage in successive weeks. Let's hope we find someone that can find a way to run the ball, and maybe even someone that can make adjustments and has constraint plays.

the news was released a couple hours ago and has not been mentioned on ESPN yet. However, if anyone has not heard yet, Manziel is going to the NFL! Tune in to ESPN and you will hear all about it...for the next 11 days!

I'm sure he worked hard, doing what he thought was best for the team (despite what some think, he was not intentionally trying to fail). Always a bittersweet moment because you never like to revel in someone being fired and them having to uproot their family (again) and start all over somewhere else. I hope he does well at his next stop.

Having said that, it wasn't working here. I'm glad someone had the balls to do it (whether it be Hoke or Brandon) and I hope we spend the money to get someone great. This move certainly bumps up my faith in Brady as a head coach

Obviously the play on the field is huge, key part of the equation. But OSU was a nice nice game. The Team looked flat during BWW but Morris was more serviceable than expected.

BUT (hear me out 8-)

1. I very seriously question offering David Sills as a QB? I mean cumong man, that's not the caliber of player who could nor should be playing at Stadium and Main if you ask me. Is it possible Borges just didn't want to go thru the effort to recruit some of the lustrous crop of California QBs? I just read about the lack of contact after the BWW game and maybe Hoke didn't appreciate the "winter vacation"

2. I watched Auburn's offense with impression. Its a complex game of misdirection where any number of 3 players could get the ball to run plus it could be a play action pass without being a dead giveaway from 30 seconds out. Personally I love this style. It has the traditional run elements while being able to have a significant advantage over the defense. I can see Hoke saying, what would it take for us to have this style of offense, Al...and him trying to laugh it off as in "that will never work"....whereas Hoke's brain would explode like a volcano saying "that which you state won't work just nearly won a NC!"

Sorry, I don't really want drama although my hypotheticals seem like that. The new OC will have their hands full, but i expect they will have the full support of the fanbase. I hope they can retain the recruits which Michigan has already gained verbals from, as well as add some more talented genetics to the pool.

Borges represented the University with class his 3 years here. It was frustrating watching this team play. Al's game planning for the most part was horrible, i wish him and his family well in his next challenge.

I want to extend a thank you to Borges for the time he dedicated to Michigan. Now moving on, this was really a smart move on Hoke's part and really had to happen. Borges had to go and the on field results spoke for themselves. Really looking forward to seeing who we get

In game adjustments seemed to kill him in the 2nd half of the year. I hope we pick an OC who will, at least occasionally, run with a little tempo. Also I hope they consider making a change at OLine coach and maybe bringing in a QB coach.

I dont think it was a year too late, because I do think Borges deserved a full year to see what he could do with Gardner under center.

We saw it, and it was unacceptable.

The counter one would have to "the problem is deeper than Al" is, if it's true that Hoke isn't much involved in the offense, then at least on that side of the ball, things could be corrected with the right staff in place. No?

Borges not having DG ready at qb last year (monumental gaffe IMO, bellomy wasn't even close to ready), combined with his mediocre track record, and his abomination of playcalls vs. OSU... he should have been shitcanned last year.

But Hoke/DB know best right? I guess my opinion was wrong for seeing this a year ahead?